Motherhood

03/08/2017

On International Women's Day, I feel it's worth mentioning the relationship one has with one's back. How does your back feel today? What do you carry there, both seen and unseen? What is one action you can take to improve your back's health?

11/09/2016

I want to share how inspiration led me to painting and expressing myself in my art journal this morning, after hearing who won the United States Presidential Election. I am grateful to Hali Karla for sharing a flip through her art journal. You can see it for yourself right here.

After watching Hali's video, something, like life force energy was moving inside of me. I heard the message to go paint in my art journal. Move paint and color around before going to the computer. Put on some music and paint.

So, that's what I did. You will see Hali's artistic style influenced my pages.

I did not go digging for supplies. I simply used what was right in front of me. One thing I had within reach was a bottle of ink and a nib holder with a nib already attached. (For more information on nibs and nib holders, here's a great article on Jetpens.com)

I took a photo of my pages and realized there was one more important thing I wanted to add-Love. Love Above Fear.

09/26/2016

I want to tell you a few things. You are so important. You matter. Your feelings are what they are. Sometimes they are your inner guidance system trying to tell you something about yourself. What do you need to feel more whole, happy, and fulfilled? Are you taking good care of yourself? Are you allowing yourself to dream of having what you really, really, really want? This is your life. You have power and strength, wisdom and courage all built right inside of you. I am not saying life is easy. I just want to remind you of your worth. I want to remind you that there is hope.

If you are wondering how the above paragraph fits with the announcement of the release of an online art workshop series, allow me to tell you. What I know is that art making and creativity are powerful avenues that lead to healing and personal growth. Through imagery, through moving the body, through shifting your focus away from worry and pain to love is what heals us. Art journaling, which is the focus of 21 Secrets, is a safe space for you to get to know yourself better while playing with art supplies. Play, and you learn. Learn more about who you are, and you grow. Your heart gets filled back up. Your thoughts shift to something better. You start dreaming of greater possibilities. Your whole body starts to feel better in the moment, because the mind, body, and spirit are all connected.

With all of that being said, I want to invite you to take a look at this incredible offering called 21 Secrets-Color, Color, Color. Even if you don't consider yourself an artist, have no fear. The 24 teachers in 21 Secrets-Color, Color, Color, walk you through each step of the creative process. It's a joyful, eye opening, wonder-filled, and incredible journey, and you're invited along! We're all in this together. As Glennon Doyle Melton says, "Life is brutiful." That's brutal and beautiful combined into one. Let us walk together through the power of art making. Now is the time to take better care of yourself and to share your experiences with others. (There's an online Facebook Community for 21 Secrets participants). Best of all, we'll be playing with color in your art making! Each teaching artist has a unique approach, so you'll get to try various techniques and find out what rings true for you!

If online art workshops aren't for you, I completely understand. I hope you still read something in this post that made you get curious about your life, and sparked a desire to make a shift.

Many Blessings and Gratitude to You,

Briana

PS To find out more about 21 Secrets-Color Color Color, please click here. I get paid as a contributing artist when you use the link from my site, so I thank you in advance for your support.

The pictures below are a few stepped out photos of how my art journal page spread developed, as well as the story behind the art.

I started by preparing a palette with ten colors of tempera paint. I grabbed my art journal, a few paintbrushes, and some paper towels. I was working in my office where my computer lives, so I decided not to use water, and just wiped my paintbrush off between colors.

I simply chose a color, and put paint to paper, while I listened to the new Art Journal Jam with Connie and Natasha. Their conversation and encouragement to paint in my journal was just the inspiration I needed this morning.

I love working in this intuitive manner because I enter into that "non-thinking" state of consciousness. I am just doing, playing, reacting to the previous marks, and following what feels good.

What wanted to be expressed is a story from an experience I had yesterday while at a local playground with my son.

Here's the story:

Yesterday I was at the park with my son. At first we were the only ones there. Then a father who was pushing his son on a tricycle started to head our way. As they got closer, I gave them a wave to show that we are safe and friendly. My son and this boy came together over sharing the tricycle. They took turns, used their words, and said "thank you." It was such a nice exchange and interaction to observe. I learned that the man is from Liberia, but now lives in the UK. I learned that his home language is Dan. I truly enjoy learning about diverse cultures. I feel grateful when people are willing to open up a little and share something about their culture, such as the various languages they speak.

After I finished this page spread, I wanted to also make a page about something that was said in the "Art Journal Jam" session that made us all laugh. Natasha said, "In it to win it." My interpretation of what she means by this phrase, is that she and Connie once again were talking, connecting, and sharing stories about their lives. They were going deep, being real, and listening to one another.

There are few things in life that I enjoy more than "going deep" in conversation with another soul, or small group of people. So, "I'm in it to win it!" How about you?

I want to say thank you for showing up here today, whether it's because you have subscribed to receive Art Inspiration to your Inbox, or you somehow landed on my site OrangeSpiralArts.com another way.

07/06/2016

There's a new book which has been birthed from living and surviving life. It is Erin Faith Allen's The Underneath-A Pictorial Memoir. http://www.erinfaithallen.com
I don't know how I have it in my hands already, except that perhaps it was divine intervention. I needed this book right now. Maybe you do, too.
WARNING: If you had a tumultuous childhood, the first half of the book may be triggering. I recommend getting the book and surrounding yourself with love. Have a good trauma therapist at the ready.

Today is Frida Kahlo's birthday.
Today, I took some self-portraits, which I have not done for awhile.
Today is the beginning of the Brave Girl Symposium in Boise, Idaho. This happens to be where Erin Faith Allen lived as a child. And she will be speaking at the symposium.

This is what I needed to share with you today. I hope this post finds you at the right moment.

Next, wet the included paintbrush from the Faber-Castell Graphite Aquarelle pencil set, and start to play within the stencil where you scribbled your lines.

Tip: Blot with a paper towel before removing the stencil.

Remove the stencil to see the design.

To continue with the art journal pages, I used a stencil from the Halftone Dots series and some turquoise paint.

TIP: To get more on your background, clean the stencil with a baby wipe on the blank side of your page spread.

Now it’s time to add some journaling. I am a big believer in the power of writing, and I also love how handwriting looks in an art journal. What’s fun about the Faber-Castell Graphite Aquarelle pencils, is that you can easily blend out some of your words so it’s illegible to other people.

To make the writing even more difficult to read, I made a line grid over the words and added more water with the paintbrush.

Use markers to add patterns or anything else you want to include on your pages.

For me, this page spread is complete. I love creating backgrounds while playing and experimenting with art supplies!

I have been taking the online workshop Creative + Practice since 2011. I participate at least once per year, as Lisa generously gives registrants forever access to each new round she offers. A new round just started on June 8, 2016. I am feeling super jazzed and excited about this next session. It feels like exactly what I need right now to brainstorm what's happening next for me and my small business, Orange Spiral Arts.

I am going to see if this works. I created an album in the Creative + Practice Facebook Group. I am going to try to link it here. Hopefully if you click on the word "here", you'll see the four pictures I posted.

Mostly what I want to share is that I love this online class. It has helped me tremendously over the last 5 years. I am thankful for people who are out there sharing their wisdom, especially around the subjects related to creativity.

Lynda Barryis also doing amazing things. The first thing in my Creative + Practice sketchbook is an article about Lynda Barry's work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, my alma mater. In the article, Lynda talks about the correlation between the hand and the brain. If we move our hands, eventually the mind will catch up and give us pearls of wisdom. I experienced this last night as I was cleaning off my office desk that has been collecting piles of papers for nearly four years. I blame the mess on being a first time parent while trying to build a small business as an expressive arts coach.

What happened to me while I was moving my hands, picking up papers, sorting through piles, felt quite remarkable. Not only did I visually enjoy seeing the bottom of my desk for the first time in four years, I also felt like wisdom and light was being revealed. It's kind of abstract and hard to explain, but all I want to say, is that I agree with Lynda. We must use our hands. They are our creative tools. There is a mind-body connection there. Studies are showing that people feel better when they engage in activities like drawing, painting, playing an instrument, writing, doodling, etc.

This conversation reminds me of the amazing artist Lynn Whipple who has a great poster with the words, "Move Your Hands" on it.

So, this blog post is a bit of a departure from my usual post. Let me know if you like the change, what changes you'd like to see, or any other positive words of encouragement you have for me! I appreciate you! Thank you!

05/27/2016

Today, I am sharing a short video of one of my current mixed media art journals. I work in many journals at a time, but this Strathmore journal has a lot of recent work in it. Some of the pages are complete, while others are process pages. I am still working in this journal, but thought there's plenty for a brief journal flip! Enjoy!

A FREE Monthly Meeting for Visual and Art Journal Keepers in the Twin Cities. Click button above for more information.

Astrology and Art-2017-A Year Long Program with Hali Karla

You and Your Creativity Matter

Vision Board the E-Course:: A Powerful Way to Gain Clarity and Manifest the Life You Want to Live -OPEN for REGISTRATION-FOREVER ONLINE ACCESS at one affordable price!!

At your core, you are a Beautiful BEing, full of love and light. This online e-course offers writing and expressive painting prompts to assist you in reconnecting to your true essence. Registration is ALWAYS OPEN. To find out more, click the image above. There is a Pay-What-You-Can option available.